Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Karl Pearson and George Yule debated the validity of the assumptions made when estimating the association between cross-classified vaccine (or antitoxin) administration and mortality, if both variables are assessed on binary measurement scales. Pearson assumed these measures reflect an inherently continuous distribution and used tetrachoric correlation to estimate … Continue reading Novometric Statistical Analysis and the Pearson-Yule Debate

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Widely-used indexes of inter-rater or inter-method agreement, π and κ sometimes produce unexpected results called the paradoxes of kappa. For example, prior research obtained four legacy agreement statistics (κ, Scott’s π, G-index, Fleiss’s generalized π) for a 2x2 table in which two independent raters failed to jointly classify … Continue reading ODA vs. π and κ: Paradoxes of Kappa

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Prior empirical comparison of the timeline follow-back (TLFB, dummy-coded as 1) vs. Drinker Profile (DP, coded as 2) methods of quantifying alcohol consumption in treatment research reported pairwise sign tests comparing these methods separately on four categorical ordinal outcomes: abstinent=1; light=2; moderate=3; heavy=4. It was concluded: “The direction … Continue reading Novometric Analysis vs. EO-CTA: Disentangling Sets of Sign-Test-Based Multiple-Comparison Findings

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC An empirical comparison of timeline follow-back vs. averaging methods for quantifying alcohol consumption in treatment research reported non-disentangled, non-interpreted chi-square-based comparisons of factors differentiating subjects selected vs. not selected for participation in the study. CTA easily identifies underlying inter-study differences. View journal article

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC The definition of the descendant family in the context of novometric statistical theory is clarified. View journal article

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Daily television viewing (hours, 6-minute increments), marital status (0=not married; 1=married), age and education (years, integers) data were obtained for a randomly-selected sample of 25 senior citizens. Training analysis predicting viewing (dependent variable) as a linear function of the other (independent) measures by multiple regression analysis identified a … Continue reading Predicting Daily Television Viewing of Senior Citizens Using Education, Age and Marital Status

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Novometric statistical analyses were used to model smoking habits of one’s male friends, and of one’s female friends, for samples of 3,289 Anglo-American, 944 Mexican-American, and 733 Indian-American college undergraduates. For both analyses the categorical attributes were ethnicity (a multicategorical attribute, dummy-coded using 1-3, respectively), and subject gender … Continue reading Novometric Models of Smoking Habits of Male and Female Friends of American College Undergraduates: Gender, Smoking, and Ethnicity

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Samples of 1,171 male and 1,503 female Anglo-American, 291 male and 503 female Mexican-American, and 138 male and 361 female Indian-American, non-smoking college undergraduates were asked if their best boy-friend or their best girl-friend would be most upset if the subject began smoking. Original analysis using separate chi-square … Continue reading Would One’s Best Boy- or Girl-Friend be More Upset if One Began Smoking: An Exploratory GenODA Model for Anglo-, Mexican-, and Indian-American College Undergraduates

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Novometric analysis is used to discriminate perceived peer-group standards for girls seeing boys smoke, vs. for boys seeing girls smoke (class variable), of 3,220 Anglo-American, 936 Mexican-American, and 723 Indian-American (multicategorical attribute) high-school students. Subjects rated their opinion about boys seeing girls smoke, and about girls seeing boys … Continue reading Using Gender of an Imaginary Rated Smoker, and Subject’s Gender, Ethnicity, and Smoking Behavior to Identify Perceived Differences in Peer-Group Smoking Standards of American High School Students

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Novometric analysis is used to predict cigarette smoking (class variable) of 3,577 Anglo-American, 1,001 Mexican-American, and 797 Indian-American (multicategorical attribute) high-school students. Additional categorical attributes used were gender, and dummy-variable indicators of whether the student’s mother, and whether the student’s father, did or did not smoke. The globally … Continue reading Parental Smoking Behavior, Ethnicity, Gender, and the Cigarette Smoking Behavior of High School Students

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Hold-out validity analysis is used to evaluate the cross-generalizability of relationships previously identified by novometric models predicting year in school (ordered class variable) as a function of cigarette smoking behavior (attribute, measured using an ordered and a multicategorical measurement scale) for a sample of 3,809 male Anglo-American college … Continue reading Assessing Hold-Out Validity of Models of Smoking Behavior Developed for Male Anglo-American College Undergraduates Applied to Classify Comparable Mexican-American and Indian-American Samples

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Immediately after graduating from one of four alternative sales training programs, graduates were randomly assigned to sales areas putatively having comparable sales opportunities: number of sales made by each of N=23 graduates at the end of their first week was recorded. Analysis by one-way ANOVA yielded F(3,19)=3.13, p<0.0281. … Continue reading Novometrics vs. ODA vs. One-Way ANOVA: Evaluating Comparative Effectiveness of Sales Training Programs, and the Importance of Conducting LOO with Small Samples

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Random samples of 200 registered voters from each of four political wards were asked if they favored a particular candidate. Seven chi-square analyses (one omnibus comparison between all four wards, six follow-up pair-wise comparisons to specify the underlying effect) were used to compare the proportion of voters favoring … Continue reading CTA vs. Chi-Square: Comparing Voter Sentiment in Political Wards

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Maximum-accuracy statistical methods involving (un)restricted class variables are used to identify underlying relationships among year in school and cigarette smoking habit for a sample of 3,809 Anglo-American, male and female college undergraduates. View journal article

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC A longitudinal smoking cessation study followed three patient groups: group 1=40 patients attending at least one group session; group 2=62 interviewed patients who did not attend group sessions; group 3=group 1+group 2. Data were collected four times: at the interview, and two- weeks and one- and two-months post-discharge. … Continue reading ODA vs. Undocumented Chi-Square: Clarity vs. Confusion

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Experimental designs for which log-linear analysis is the recommended legacy (maximum-likelihood) methodology are usually inappropriately analyzed vis-à-vis series of chi-square analyses conducted on assorted subtables. Disintegrated chi-square analysis is compared with CTA for an application relating physician support and desired smoking status to actual smoking behavior. View journal … Continue reading CTA vs. Disintegrated Chi-Square: Integrated vs. Piecemeal Analysis

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Statistical and ecological significance are rarely distinguished in reports employing chi-square analysis to test statistical hypotheses. This note elucidates this distinction, comparing chi-square with ODA using an application relating smoking knowledge and smoking behavior. View journal article

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Statistical and ecological significance are rarely distinguished in reports employing chi-square analysis to test statistical hypotheses. This note elucidates this distinction, comparing chi-square with CTA using an application relating smoking knowledge and smoking behavior. View journal article

Paul R. Yarnold Optimal Data Analysis, LLC Classic research tested the a priori hypothesis that fear and specificity of recommendation synergistically influence a person’s decision to have a tetanus inoculation. Data were inappropriate for analysis by one-way chi-square, and results obtained using chi-square missed the hypothesized interaction: “…specific plans for action influence behavior while level … Continue reading CTA vs. Not Chi-Square: Fear and Specific Recommendations Do Synergistically Affect Behavior

Paul R. Yarnold & Manu Batra Optimal Data Analysis, LLC & UCMS College of Dental Surgery This paper illustrates matrix display of pairwise novometric associations for mixed-metric designs involving variables assessed using a variety of binary, multicategorical, and ordered measurement scales. View journal article